Kaul's hand closed around the red loop.
The nursery did not fall.
Kaul had not pulled yet.
He stood above the marked district with the Bellmother's scar chain dragging at his back and waited for something only he could see in Skykeel's strain.
Aylin climbed toward him with the plain rope.
She could loop the shear lever, jam its hooked teeth, and buy another crossing for the cradles below. Kaul's bent wing frame left his lower side open. Two Hook Choir riders guarded the perch, but both kept looking toward families still on the bridges.
Jiang caught the rope in his beak.
Aylin pulled once. He did not release it.
"If he cuts now, they die."
Jiang looked past her toward Skykeel's center ring.
One of its thick chain roots had begun splitting down the middle. Homes on the adjoining span leaned into each other. Riders packed the air beneath them, trying to hold roofs that no set of wings had been built to carry.
